Milenkovic: Just as Japan followed others in recognizing, it will follow in derecognizing Kosovo

Translator and longtime correspondent from Japan, Dragan Milenkovic, stated that it is important for Serbia to present all facts regarding Kosovo to official Tokyo, and that greater economic cooperation and connections could lead to a change in Japan’s position on recognition.

Commenting on Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric’s visit to Japan, Milenkovic said that relations between the two countries are “on an upward path,” as reflected in numerous investments in Serbia.

He is convinced that with greater economic cooperation and closer ties, relations between the two countries can not only deepen further, but Japan may eventually reconsider its recognition of Kosovo.

“At the moment, our pavilion at the Expo in Osaka is very well visited and we are very well represented. Japan has already announced it will come to our Expo (2027). These are the paths of cooperation, the new steps after which everything will fall into place, because just as Japan followed others in recognizing, so it will follow others in derecognizing,” Milenkovic told Kosovo Online.

He added that it is important to remind Japan that it too has an unresolved territorial dispute with Russia, ongoing since the end of World War II.

This concerns the group of islands between Japan’s Hokkaido and Russia’s Kamchatka, known as the “Northern Territories.”

“There is no country to which I wouldn’t say: change your opinion, because we are certain this is ours and will never remain outside of us. And they have their own examples. It should be pointed out to them that they too have the Northern Islands, which some call the Kuril Islands and others the ‘Northern Territories.’ They were taken from them and never returned. A peace treaty has still not been signed with the Soviet Union, later Russia, since World War II. So, there is always room for comparison,” Milenkovic said.

Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani, who visited Japan in mid-June, emphasized that relations between the two countries are “built on shared values.”

Milenkovic believes such statements should be countered with facts.

“Kosovo should not be countered in their way, but in the exact opposite way. She (Vjosa Osmani) said that Kosovo and Japan share the same values. Are those the same values as preserving monuments placed under UNESCO protection? We know that the Church of Our Lady of Ljevis, one of the most beautiful churches in all of Kosovo and Metohija, was burned down precisely by those same people they recognized,” Milenkovic said.

Pointing out that Japan recognized Kosovo “under pressure from Western countries with which it has good relations,” Milenkovic reminded that Japan has recently regained the right to have an army and has become a NATO observer.

He stressed that in relations with Japan, Belgrade can “counter” Pristina “through practice, not slogans.”

“We can counter with even stronger cooperation, economic cooperation, and with much better conditions that we offer. We have practice, while they only have slogans. Meaning, with practice we can prevail and further improve cooperation,” Milenkovic said with confidence.